A Massachusetts Nurse Is Donating A Kidney To Her Co-Worker For Christmas

At the risk of sounding like a cliche...this is truly a Christmas miracle. Sarah Farrell, a registered nurse at Sturdy Memorial Hospital in Attleboro, Massachusetts is truly living the motto "It's better to give than receive" this holiday.

According to WCVB News 5 in Boston, Sarah donated a kidney this morning to her co-worker Eileen Montville, a patient care assistant who also works at the hospital.

The TV station is reporting that Eileen was diagnosed with glomerular membranous nephritis, a progressive kidney disease, when she was just 17. She started needing dialysis about three years ago. And spends every night hooked up to a machine at home while she sleeps.

The two first started working together back in May. That's when Sarah found out Eileen was on a waiting list to receive a kidney. So she went and got tested, and according to News 5, found out she was approved for donation on November 7.

Eileen told News 5 that a half-a-dozen friends and relatives offered to donate, but all of them were ineligible. Sarah says when she found out she was approved she couldn't wait to tell her friend and co-worker. She decided to surprise her at dinner that night by hiding a card in her menu, with two kidneys on the front and inside it said, “I’ll share my spare with you.”

And while the surgery took place this morning, both women hope to be home a few days before Christmas.